At the Otay crossing near the San Diego border last Monday, about 200 people coming from Mexico gained entry to the United States all using the same key phrase; they claimed they had a 'credible fear' of drug cartels. According to KSAZ FoxPheonix:So many were doing this that they had to close down the processing center and move the overflow by vans to another station.

"They are being told if they come across the border, when they come up to the border and they say certain words, they will be allowed into the country," said a person who did not want to be identified on camera. "We are being overwhelmed."

This apparent new shift in tactics to enter the United States comes at a time when the Associated Press is reporting a spike in the number of asylum requests in the past few years:

According draft testimony for USCIS Associate Director Joseph Langlois that was to be submitted for a congressional hearing on asylum requests last month, USCIS received more than 19,119 asylum requests through the end of May. The agency anticipates receiving more than 28,600 by the end of the fiscal year.

According to the testimony, during the 2009 budget year the agency received just 5,369 such requests.

However, this new phenomenon is out of all proportion, even with this spike. To put those numbers in perspective with the 200 people making asylum requests on one day at one border crossing, 200 people a day equals 73,000 people a year -- close to three times the total number received all year, at all border crossings.